The Mediating Impact of SMEDAN Initiative on the Relationship Between CSFs and SMEs' Success : A Conceptual Paper

Nigeria's federal government, after the oil boom of the 1970s, created policies, including the SMEDAN initiative, to trigger socio-economic development through entrepreneurship and small business development. Notwithstanding the importance of SMEs' socio-economic development and the Nigerian government's effort to support entrepreneurship and SME development, SMEs fail within the first five years. There is not enough information that can be used by SME owners/managers to develop best business practice policies to mitigate SMEs' failure and trigger socio-economic development. Critical success factor (CSFs) provides information that can be used to develop the best business practice to mitigate SME failure. Researchers stated that for owners/managers of SMEs to use CSFs models, they must replicate studies in new geographical areas or new industries. There is no CSFs model for the Nigerian location. The purpose is to position a CSFs model that can be used as information by owners/managers of SMEs to develop the best business policies to mitigate SME failures in Nigeria. This paper presents a thesis concept where the researcher used a mixed research approach to position a CSFs model that can provide the information that can be used by owners/managers to mitigate SME failure and trigger socio-economic development. Mitigating SMEs' failure in Nigeria will reduce unemployment and poverty, which might trigger socio-economic development as envisaged by the federal government. This conceptual paper revealed the findings of the pilot study for the thesis, where it was revealed that five variables impact SMEs' success in Jigawa State, Nigeria